Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
---

Title: F1 the Movie review: A shameless Apple ad that will blow your socks
off

Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:48:08 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-mov...

The first thing in F1 the Movie, before a single word of dialog is uttered,
is a pair of AirPods Max. They're so comfortable, Brad Pitt's lovable loser
protagonist Sonny Hayes is able to sleep with them all night, then hop up and
begin his day of driving fancy race cars. If you paid $550 for the AirPods
Max, you too could be like Brad Pitt!

It's hard to ignore the blatant commercialism of F1 the Movie, you might as
well call it a $300 million ad for Formula One everything Apple. The film is
produced by Pitt and F1 darling Lewis Hamilton, and it's Apple's first stab
at producing a big budget summer blockbuster for theaters. In the hands of
Joseph Kosinski, the director behind the thematically similar Top Gun:
Maverick, F1 the Movie is undoubtedly thrilling, delivering an unparalleled
sense of speed that more than rises to the occasion of "big, dumb, fun summer
flick." As a connoisseur of action films and just about anything that
features wildly fast cars, I'd go as far to say that F1 is one of the best
racing films ever made.

Apple

Sure, you've seen this movie before ΓÇö one where absurdly beautiful people
devote their lives to their sport, all for the love of the game. In many
ways, Kosinski and writer Ehren Kreuger are just repeating what they did for
the Top Gun sequel. F1 the Movie swaps Tom Cruise with Brad Pitt as a
talented-but-washed up lead (who is always right about everything, of
course), and replaces fighter jets with Formula One racers. Kosinski even
replicates part of the magic of that previous film by placing cameras within
the cars (powered by iPhone sensors and Apple's A-series chips, Wired
reports, as well as unreleased Sony 6K cameras) to accurately capture the
experience of driving at speeds of 200 miles per hour.

If you can get past the generic characters and formulaic nature of the film
ΓÇö Pitt's Sonny Hayes is a fallen racing star recruited by an old friend
(Javier Bardem) to save his struggling F1 team, all the while butting heads
with a young publicity-obsessed teammate (Damson Idris) ΓÇö F1 the Movie's
sheer technical prowess makes it a must-watch Summer blockbuster on the
biggest screen you can find. On IMAX screens, it'll be presented in that
format's extra-tall 1.90:1 aspect ratio for its entire duration, instead of
switching between aspect ratios like other IMAX films. (I saw it on a local
theater chain's premium screen and it looked great, but I also plan to get a
full IMAX viewing soon.)

While Apple would probably want us to focus on the novelty of using iPhone
cameras in Formula One cars, it's the Sony cameras that truly make F1 more
than your typical racing film. As you can see in behind the scenes footage,
those cameras can rotate quickly in the middle of the race. That helps
Kosinski capture the hectic nature of driving at incredibly fast speeds ΓÇö
we instantly go from seeing the point of view of the road to the driver's
struggle to keep pace with the action. They're reacting to extreme G-force
and struggling to hold onto the wheel,and we're right there with them.

F1 is one of those films where you might find yourself unconsciously holding
your breath during its most extreme set pieces. But itΓÇÖs also one of those
movies where youΓÇÖll probably have to turn off your brain a bit to truly
enjoy it. Ignore the uncritical adoration for Formula One racing, the fact
that PittΓÇÖs character is almost a total cipher or the stereotypical
romance.

Apple

The riskiest thing F1 does is place Sonny HayesΓÇÖ AirPods Max ΓÇô which
arenΓÇÖt waterproof or water resistant in any way ΓÇô perilously close to his
ice bath after a brutal race. (I could easily see Apple executives giving
Kosinski a note to make sure the AirPods Max never touches water. We
wouldnΓÇÖt want to have unrealistic expectations for Apple products, after
all.)

Some sports films are transcendent explorations of the nature of human
endurance (Chariots of Fire), or character dramas where winning isnΓÇÖt
really the point at all (Rocky.) And sometimes car go fast. ThatΓÇÖs still
perfectly enjoyable.

.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-mov...
shameless-apple-ad-that-will-blow-your-socks-off-144808364.html?src=rss

---
VRSS v2.1.180528